Tenchi Forever! The Movie
| Tenchi Forever! The Movie | |
 Pioneer's North American DVD box cover. For alternate cover art, see the release's gallery. | |
| Japanese | 天地無用! in LOVE 2 遙かなる想い |
| Romanization | Tenchi Muyo! in Love 2: Distant Feelings |
| Directed by | Hiroshi Negishi |
| Screenplay by | Masaharu Ayano |
| Starring | Masami Kikuchi Ai Orikasa Yumi Takada Chisa Yokoyama Yuko Mizutani Yuri Amano Yuko Kobayashi Kikuko Inoue |
| Music by | Tsuneyoshi Saito |
| Production | AIC Pioneer LDC, Inc. "Tenchi Muyo Manatsu no Eve" Committee |
| Distributed by | Theatrical GAGA communications inc. Home Video  Pioneer Entertainment (USA) L.P. (1999 - 2003) Geneon Entertainment (USA) Inc. (2004 - 2007) FUNimation Entertainment (2012 - Current) |
| Release date | Theatrical April 24, 1999 Home Video August 25, 1999 (VHS, DVD, LaserDisc)[1] March 31, 1998 (VHS, DVD, LaserDisc) December 18, 2012 (Blu-ray)[2] |
| Running time | 95 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
Tenchi Forever! The Movie known in Japan as Tenchi Muyo! in Love 2: Haruka naru Omoi (天地無用! in LOVE 2 遙かなる想い, phonetic: Tenchi Muyou! in Rabu tsu Haruka naru Omoi) is the third and final film in the Tenchi Muyo! franchise, directed by Hiroshi Negishi and written by Masaharu Ayano. The film was released theatrically in Japan on April 24, 1999 [3]
The film was later released in North America on home video on March 31, 1998. [4][5]
Titles
| Title | Language |
|---|---|
| TENCHI MUYO in LOVE 2 遙かなる想い [6] | Official title |
| 天地無用! in LOVE 2 遙かなる想い [7] | Japanese title |
| Tenchi Forever! The Movie | Official English Title |
| Tenchi the Movie: TENCHI FOREVER [8] |  English |
| Tenchi the Movie·3: TENCHI FOREVER [9] |  English |
| Tenchi Muyo In Love 2: The Movie [10] |  French |
| Chi ha bisogno di Tenchi? Memorie lontane [11] |  Italian |
| Tenchi Muyo in Love 2 [12] |  Polish |
Plot Summary
Ryoko and Ayeka are bickering over who should be doing chores when Tenchi runs into them. They both are insistent that he makes a choice to pick one or the other. Tenchi naturally decides to run away, heading into the forest. While there, he stumbles upon a huge tree covered in strange flowers, and vanishes without a trace. While asleep, Tenchi has a strange dream of floating through nothingness while surrounded by what he saw before he disappeared, and wakes up to find himself a completely different person. He's several years older, has long hair, and lives with a beautiful young woman named Haruna.
After this revelation, the film jumps ahead some time. Tenchi's family and friends have been searching in vain for him, with Ryoko and Ayeka moving to Tokyo to continue the search. While searching for Tenchi they've become waitresses at a small diner. Every spare moment not working is spent looking for any clues to Tenchi’s whereabouts. Completely by chance, Ryoko and Ayeka run into Tenchi and Haruna. The girls go to Washu to let her know what happened, and a plan is struck to get Tenchi back. This includes help from Mihoshi and Kiyone’s GP expertise, as well as Sasami’s own royal power.
Tenchi is now beginning to get severe headaches, which coincide with his memories. Haruna becomes increasingly upset when all Tenchi begins to draw are crude pictures of Ryoko. Afterwards, while Tenchi and Haruna are out shopping, they run into Ryoko and Ayeka. When Ryoko tries to address Tenchi, there is no response, and when she tries to touch Tenchi she passes right through him, which ends up causing Tenchi and Haruna to fade into nothingness.
Putting their plans into motion, Katsuhito harnesses the power of the trees around the shrine and Washu creates a doorway into the dimension Haruna created. Ryoko and Ayeka enter and confront Tenchi and Haruna and try to bring Tenchi back. However, Tenchi gets a headache caused by the clashing memories and tells them he does not want to go back. Haruna banishes them back to the real world. Devastated by Tenchi's rejection, Ryoko begins to cry.
Despite this small victory, Haruna’s facade begins to crumble around them. This whole time Haruna had been draining Tenchi’s energy to create this world, and small discrepancies begin to become too much to ignore, culminating with Katsuhito slicing into the tree. Haruna recognizes her true love Yosho, and remembers why she took Tenchi away in the first place. Yosho and Haruna leave together and Tenchi finally remembers who he is but now has no way of escaping himself.
Washu tells the girls that she can only send one in to get Tenchi. After a heart to heart talk, Ayeka tells Ryoko to go, that she’s the only one who could bring him back. Ryoko jumps in and meets Tenchi. After small banter, Ryoko lifts Tenchi into the sky to teleport them both back to their world.
The movie closes on Tenchi and Ryoko observing a quiet moment just as Tenchi’s parents did in the first Tenchi Muyo in Love film.
Cast
- Main article: List of Tenchi Forever! The Movie crew members
Reception
| Aggregate Scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Rotten Tomatoes |  82%[13] (500+)
|
| MyAnimeList | 7.21/10 [14] (7300+) |
| Anime News Network | 7.13/10 [15] (800+ / Mean Average) |
| Anime-Planet | 3.66/5 [16] (2800+) |
| IMDb | 7.1/10 [17] (700+) |
Retrospective Reviews (After 10+ years)
Carlo Santos reviewed the film for Anime News Network on Jan 23, 2013 as part of a general review for FUNimation's Tenchi Muyo! The Movie Collection release. Carlo's review of the film was very positive, saying that the film was "the franchise's masterpiece". Carlo praised the writing in particular, noting that "So well-written is this story that even the one-time-only character, Haruna, goes through major changes: she starts as a mystery, develops into a villain, and finally becomes a sympathetic figure." Though no individual grade was given to each film, Carlo praised the movie as "The movie's finale pulls on the heartstrings in a way few other Tenchi works ever have, putting a perfect endcap on the entire series." [18]
Music
Tsuneyoshi Saito composed the music for the film.
References
- ↑ Japanese Home Video Release Poster
- ↑ "Tenchi Muyo!: Movie Collection (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)". Amazon.com. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
- ↑ "AIC作品紹介". anime-int.com. Archived from the original. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
- ↑ "Tenchi the Movie 2 - The Daughter of Darkness". Amazon.com. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
- ↑ Animerica - February 1998 Daughter of Darkness Ad
- ↑ Pioneer North American DVD Japanese Title
- ↑ Tenchi Muyo In Love CD Release Poster
- ↑ MVM UK TMIL2 DVD Cover
- ↑ Madman AUS TMIL DVD Cover
- ↑ Dynfr French TMIL2 DVD Cover
- ↑ Dynit Italian TMIL2 DVD Cover
- ↑ planet manga Polish TMIL2 VHS Cover
- ↑ "TENCHI MUYO: TENCHI IN LOVE 2: DISTANT MEMORIES". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
- ↑ "Tenchi Muyou! in Love 2: Haruka Naru Omoi". MyAnimeList. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
- ↑ "Tenchi Forever!: The Movie". Anime News Network. February February 16, 2022.
- ↑ "Tenchi Movie 3: Tenchi Forever". anime-planet. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
- ↑ "Tenchi Forever!: The Movie". IMDb. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
- ↑ Santos, Carlo (Jan 23, 2013). "Tenchi Muyo! The Movie Collection BD+DVD". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
